Topic: Back To Basics (AU Backstory)

Ayden · Date: 2012-09-15 08:19 EST

Dean groaned as he started to come around, his head pounding, feeling like he'd just gone a few rounds with a heavyweight boxer, which he practically had. He was reluctant to move as moving seemed to cause pain in every fiber of his being. Slow to come around, disoriented and unsure where he was or what had happened, it took a few minutes before the events of the last few days came back to him, prying his eyes open finally to find himself flat on his back on a cot in the panic room Bobby and Ellen had built in the basement of their house in Sioux Falls. While it was a relief to know he was safe, that relief was tainted by grief and guilt. He wasn't sure how long he'd been there, but he had a pretty good idea why.

He tried to stifle another groan and failed as he forced himself to slowly swing his legs off the cot and push himself up from the cot. Even wincing hurt, his face and head feeling like it was about to split apart at the slightest movement. Thankfully, there were no broken bones or other serious damage. He'd been hurt far worse before, but the knowledge that his injuries had been inflicted by someone who called themself a friend only added insult to injury. Dean winced again as he moved to his feet, reaching out to prop himself against a wall until the room stopped spinning.

"Cas!" he called, his throat parched, voice raspy. "You can unlock the door. I'm not going anywhere."

It wasn't Cas who answered him. The little hatch on the door squeaked opened, and Ayden's eyes and nose appeared in the opening, peering around hopefully. She looked spooked, even what little of her he could see, but relief flared in her green eyes as she found her big brother. "Um ...hey," she greeted him in a wary voice. "Can I come in" I won't do anything or say anything, I just ....I need to be with family right now." There was a pause as she glanced behind her, to where Castiel was watching her, and her eyes returned to Dean. "Or I can go away. I get that you have issues."

Dean's eyes remained fixed on the door as the hatch slowly opened, half expecting it to be Castiel and half expecting it to be Sam who peered in at him. The last person he expected to see was Ayden, but it kind of made sense that they'd send her in first. She was the one person Dean was unlikely to attack, verbally or otherwise. "Come to visit me in prison?" he asked as she peered into the room, sounding more sarcastic and bitter than he intended.

Issues, Dean thought. That was putting things mildly. He had a feeling Cas was within hearing range, but he had nothing to say to the angel right now that he wanted Ayden to hear.

She flinched at his tone, but closed the little hatch, and a moment later, the door swung open, revealing his little sister in her pajamas and college sweater. Behind her, Castiel took a step forward, his eyes levelled with baleful intent on Dean, daring the hunter to try and leave his incarceration in that moment. Ayden hesitated in the doorway, gathering together her courage to step inside. Castiel closed the door behind her, and in a way, that was more encouraging than it should have been. He trusted Dean not to hurt his own little sister, no matter how angry he was.

Dean remained where he was, propped against the wall, as though the wall was the only thing holding him up, which was probably more true than he'd like to admit. He narrowed his eyes as he caught sight of his jailkeeper, knowing he didn't have the strength or the will to try and make an escape just yet. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Cas! It's good to know someone believes in me," he called, unable to keep the hurt and the sarcasm from his voice.

"They send you in here to try and talk some sense into me?" he asked his sister, as the door closed behind Ayden, leaving them alone.

She fidgeted awkwardly, her hands tucked into the pockets of her sweater as she stood in that same spot, twisting on her feet. "No," she told him honestly, looking up at her brother. "Ellen says I'm an idiot. And Cas made me promise not to let you out before he'd let me in." One shoulder rose and fell as she offered over a smile that was completely without mirth. She wasn't quite meeting his eyes, or if she did, it was only for a split second before she looked away. Spooked was the mildest description for how she looked, but what could possibly have frightened her in the middle of the night in what was the safest place on Earth for a Winchester"

Dean frowned, the frown causing his face to hurt where it was bruised and split open in several places. "You're not an idiot. Why would Ellen say that?" he asked, noticing how she would hardly meet his gaze and wrongly assuming she was either afraid of him or he looked even worse than he felt. He pushed off the wall, just managing to make it back to the cot without falling on his face. "They tell you what?s going on?" he asked as he dropped down heavily onto the cot. All bets were off. No more lies, no more secrets between them. If they hadn't told her yet what was going on, he'd do it himself. She had to find out sooner or later, and she deserved to know, if only because she was a Winchester.

Ayden nodded, her bed-tousled hair flopping down over her face as she did so. She wasn't going to forget that conversation anytime soon. "Ellen told me," she assured him quietly. "While you were gone. You know, after she stopped yelling at Sam for letting you go in the first place. And, uh ....Well, just in case I didn't believe it, I, uh, I think ..." She bit her lip hard, her gaze rising to investigate the rivets on the sloped roof of the panic room. "I think Lucifer just told me, too."

Dean opened his mouth to speak, his lips parting slightly, about to explain that there'd been something he'd had to do, his heart aching at the thought, filled with grief and regret. Whatever it was he was about to say, whatever it was he was feeling was quickly, if only temporarily, forgotten when she continued, the mention of Lucifer's name bringing his head up sharply, eyes narrowing. "What?" he asked, as if he hadn't heard her right the first time.

She didn't answer him right away, lowering her gaze once again to the battered ears on her bunny slippers - such an incongruously young piece of adornment for the young woman growing up far too quickly right in front of him. "Everyone's so focused on the angels wanting me as Michael's alternative," Ayden said very softly. "No one really thinks that it's not just him I'm the alternative for. I didn't, either. Not until tonight." Very slowly, her frightened gaze rose finally to meet her brother's sharp eyes, visibly shaken. "He was in my head. In my dreams. No one said he could get to me in my dreams."

"That son of a bitch," Dean muttered, anger flaring hotly. He'd just lost two of the people he loved most in the all the world to Lucifer; he wasn't about to lose anyone else. He remained where he was on the cot, eyes flashing with anger, hands closing into fists. "What did he say?" he asked, the tone of his voice demanding an answer.

Like Dean, Ayden stood rooted in her spot by the door, more than a little freaked out by the fact that she had just woken from a conversation with the Devil. "That none of this is my fault. That I shouldn't be involved. That he completely understands, that the angels should be punished for killing my mom." She swallowed, her hands snapping out of her pockets to wrap her arms tightly around herself as she dropped her head, staring so intently at the ground she might almost have been willing it to open and swallow her whole. "He says I can save what?s left of my family if I just tell him where I am and say yes to being his Vessel. He says you and Sam wouldn't have to get hurt if I do."

Ayden · Date: 2012-09-15 08:24 EST

Dean was quiet, like the calm before the storm, while she told him what Lucifer had said, his only reaction the twitching of a muscle at his jaw as he clenched his teeth. He took a harder look at her. It wasn't hard to see how frightened she was, how young, how innocent. How easy would it be for Lucifer to corrupt her, he wondered. Well, Lucifer wasn't going to get a chance, not if Dean had anything to say about it. Over his dead body, if that's what it took.

"He's lying. You have to know that," Dean told her, forcing himself to soften his tone of voice, despite the black hatred that was burning in his heart. "He's using the truth against you. Twisting it to suit his own needs. He doesn't want you, Ayden. He wants Sam. He's only using you to get to him. No one is safe so long as that bastard lives, no matter what he tells you."

She took this in, absorbed it, in silence, finally nodding as though she'd expected him to say that. "I didn't tell him anything," she promised, chewing on her lower lip worriedly. "I figured you and Sam would yell at me if I did, and ..."

There was a pause as she shook her head. "Everyone's too angry in this house, you know" I mean, Sam's got management issues, and Ellen loves everyone too much not to be angry when things surprise her, and Cas doesn't really know what he's angry about, and Bobby's ....well, I don't really know what Bobby is. And you're just scary." She drew in a deep breath, taking the few short steps in stride to thump down onto the bed beside him. "But even though you're scary' First thing I wanted when I woke up was to be down here with you. You might make me feel like I'm about five years old, but I know I'm safe with you, too."

No matter what Ellen wanted, he wasn't going to sugar coat it anymore. Ayden was his sister and she deserved the truth. If he couldn't give her anything else, he could give her that. It didn't surprise him to hear that everyone was angry, probably mostly at him, but they weren't him. They hadn't lived his life, and they couldn't decide for him. The truth was, he'd already decided. He just had to get Sam on board, and it was a done deal. The thing that struck him most was the admission that she found him scary. "Scary?" he echoed. "Me" You don't have to be scared of me, Ayden. I'm trying to help you."

He followed her with his eyes as she made her way toward him and settled herself down on the cot beside him, fingers twitching as he considered taking her hand, but decided against it. "I'm your brother. I'm not gonna hurt you. Ever."

"It's nothing personal," she offered guiltily. "I'm kinda scared of everyone these days." She sighed, thumping her weight against his arm as she leaned into him. "I'm in the middle of all this, I know, and even though I know what?s going on, I really don't want to. I just ....I want things to be normal again. But if they're normal again, then I don't have brothers anymore, and I don't want that. I don't know how to make things right, but I wanna help."

Dean watched her, feeling just as guilty but for different reasons, but it wasn't him who'd pulled her into the middle of all this. It wasn't his fault. His father was the one to blame for that, and Zachariah. He frowned as he watched her, listening, that feeling of despair coming over him again, needing to make things better, if only for her sake. She deserved to know what he was planning, and she deserved to know why.

"Things are gonna be normal again, Ayden, but I can't promise I'll be there. I know no one wants me to say yes to Michael. I don't want to say yes to Michael, but I don't think I have any choice. I can't find another way, and I can't..." He broke off momentarily, the memory of Andrea and Lucifer too fresh in his mind, the grief too close to his heart. "I can't lose anyone else. I can't let anyone else die because of me. I can't let Lucifer win."

His little sister frowned, looking up at him with the unconditional trust he hadn't had to earn to be blessed with. Ayden truly did believe that Dean could fix things, as any baby sister would of her big brother. "But you're not gonna just go along with their plans, are you?" she asked warily. "If you say yes, and if Lucifer gets Sam or me, then you know half the world goes into the fryer. We'll probably go up first, being all close to you guys."

"No, I'm not gonna go along with their plans," he assured her, looking as grim and determined as he felt, a deep sadness in his eyes that he couldn't quite manage to hide. "I've got....conditions. You have to promise me something, Ayden," he said as he turned his body to face her, letting her see the damage the beating Cas had given him had done to his face, but that was only physical pain. The most painful wounds were those that were unseen, those of the heart and the spirit. "You have to promise me you won't say yes to Lucifer, no matter what he tells you, no matter what he promises you."

The look she gave him was all kinds of sarcastic, sardonic, and downright offended. "How dumb do you think I am?" she asked him in a mildly insulted tone. "You really think I'm stupid enough to do anything the Devil tells me to' I know I'm not the most truthful person in the world, but he's kinda got the wholesale, don't you think?" Strange, how something so very serious could bring a half-smile to her face. She was definitely a Winchester. One hand rose, a fingertip ever so slightly tracing the swollen outline of his jaw. "You look like crap."

Satisfied at least for now by her statement, he bit back a wince when she touched his face, a small, strained smile mirroring hers. "Yeah, well, I feel like crap. Try going a couple rounds with a nerd angel and see if you don't look like crap." Whatever anger he was feeling inside seemed to melt away at her touch, replaced by the deepest sorrow. "Look, I-I'm sorry if I worried you, worried everyone, but..." He shrugged and turned away, not really wanting to talk about Andrea, and unsure how much Cas had told them.

"Well, there's gotta be a first aid kit in here," Ayden said briskly, pushing herself to her feet. "It's a panic room, right?" As she rummaged through the contents of the cabinet, she felt that referred pain ripple through her soul at his faltering words. "I know," she said quietly, hugging the kit to her chest as she looked over at her brother, sympathy foremost in her eyes. "Cas told us, and Sam said they were old friends. I'm so sorry, Dean."

He wasn't looking at her, just staring off into space, looking at some random spot on the floor that he wasn't sure belonged there. He felt tears threatening, prickling at the backs of his eyes, but he forced them away. He didn't want to feel the grief, only the anger. The anger was what would keep him going, what would give him the strength and the courage to do what needed to be done. There was no time to grieve for Andrea and Lucas. Grief was a luxury he couldn't afford. He heard the sympathy in her voice and couldn't bear to look at her and see it in her eyes and on her face. Old friends, he thought to himself. They were a hell of a lot more than that. "Yeah, so am I," he muttered, more to himself than to her.

Some part of Ayden recognised that now was not the time for grieving; that Dean couldn't afford to feel the loss he'd suffered right now. "So," she said, moving back over the bed and kneeling on it, opening up the kit to rummage through for alcohol wipes and something to close the largest split on his cheek, "what?s the plan, exactly, and how do I help?"

"The plan?" he asked, as he turned to face her, pushing that grief down deep, though it hovered just beneath the surface. "The plan was to say yes to Michael and kill Lucifer before he could hurt anyone else, but I don't think Lucifer is going to cooperate. He wants Sam. I don't want Sam involved, but I don't think we're going to have any choice. It's Sam or you, and I won't let Lucifer get anywhere near you. I have to get Sam on board and then we have to figure out how to..." He broke off. How did you tell your sister that you were more than likely preparing to commit suicide"

Ayden · Date: 2012-09-15 08:28 EST

She might have been young, but Ayden knew enough not to let Dean see the expression in her eyes as this sank in. What he wasn't saying was what kicked the hardest, cut the deepest. If she hadn't been around, they wouldn't have been in this position. Dean wouldn't have to sacrifice their brother to protect her. It didn't take a genius to work out that both of them saying yes meant that at least one of them was going to die. "How to ....what?" she asked quietly. "Can you take control once they're in or something?"

Dean seemed reluctant to talk about what he was planning, as paranoid as Castiel was back at Andrea's, but he had no reason to suspect Ayden was anything but Ayden, and there was no safer place to talk than the panic room. "To finish things," he told her, somewhat vaguely, unwilling to go into details just yet, if at all.

Green eyes so like his own and Sam's flickered to meet his gaze for a moment as she opened up one of the antiseptic wipes, equally as unwilling to go into detail here as he seemed to be. For Dean, it was organising his own death and Sam's; for Ayden, it was to discuss the loss of the only family she had left. Neither of them could talk about it, not yet. "This is gonna sting," she warned him instead, lifting up the wipe to swipe over the encrusted blood on his cheek, firm and thorough.

It didn't matter. Nothing could hurt as bad as the pain in his heart. He met her gaze as she swabbed his face, barely feeling the sting of the alcohol. "She wasn't just a friend," he said suddenly, unsure why he was telling her that after privately vowing not to talk about Andrea, or even think about her. "I went there to tell her goodbye and..." He trailed off, struggling to keep his voice steady, his chest heavy with sadness, shaking his head as if to tell her that he couldn't talk about it anymore.

Perhaps someone else would have stopped administering to his physical injuries when faced with this half-explanation of his pain and anger. But Ayden didn't. She just kept working on cleaning the cuts left behind by his altercations with Meg's demons and Castiel's fists, quiet and calm and old beyond her years, giving him a silence to speak into that wasn't filled with pressure or expectation.

"I just want it to be over, Ayden. I want Lucifer dead. I want him to pay for what he's done. I swear Zachariah will pay, too. I can't lose anyone else. I don't know how I'm gonna stop it, but I won't let the world burn." He tried to explain, needing at least one person to understand, to support his decision because if they didn't, it was going to make things a whole lot harder when he said yes. A single tear found its way out the corner of one eye, but he paid it no heed, letting it slide down his cheek as if it didn't exist. "I need you to trust me. I need you to believe in me."

"What makes you think I don't already?" It was such a simple question, put so gently. Ayden lowered her hands to her knees, fiddling with the bloodstained wipe in her fingers as she met Dean's gaze head-on. "You know who I called first, after my mom died" It was you. I mean the number was old and I didn't get through, but it was you I called, before Sam and before Dad. I know I'm a brat, and I've said some awful things to you, but ....Dean, I wouldn't be here if I didn't feel safe with you guys. With you. I mean, Sam's right on the edge and he needs someone to protect and look after the way you do for him, and I'm real happy to be that person, but you're our big brother. Of course I trust you. You shouldn't need to ask."

Dean met her eyes with a steady gaze of his own. The last time they'd been together, they'd argued, but it seemed all that was forgiven and forgotten on both sides. Life was too damned short, and time was running out. "You hardly know me," he told her in a quiet voice, as if to argue with her, to give her good reasons not to trust him so implicitely, contradicting what he'd asked of her. "If it wasn't for me..." He trailed off again, dropping his gaze as he turned away. If it wasn't for me, they'd still be alive.

"I don't need to know every little thing about you," she argued gently. "You're my big brother. You and Sam, you're all I've got. I'd be an idiot if I didn't trust you. Dad was an a$$, but he was a good judge of character, and he was so proud of you. So why wouldn't I be, too?" She ignored his self-flagellation, lifting his chin with one hand as the other gently investigated the split on his cheek. "Besides, you promised you'd show me how to make my baby stop screaming when I change gears."

Forced to meet her gaze again, he somehow managed to regain control of his emotions, wincing a little as she poked at his split cheek. "Yeah, well, let it not be said that I don't keep my promises," he said, eyes following her. "Doesn't need stitches, does it' I don't want to look like Frankenstein's monster," he said, a little of his old, irrepressible self poking through the doom and gloom.

She snorted with laughter, dropping her hands from his face with a feigned looked of offense. "What, don't you trust your pre-med student sister to stitch you up so well you'd never even know you were cut?" she asked through a playful smile, finding it only too easy to push all the hurt and anger aside in favor of something that at least felt normal, no matter how brief it might be.

The mention of her car turned his thoughts toward his own baby, almost completely forgotten until that very moment. "Oh, sh*t!" he exclaimed, remembering he'd left the Impala at his mother's grave in Greenville, when Meg had come for him. "My baby!" He hurriedly got to his feet, a little too fast, a wave of dizziness dropping him quickly back onto the cot. "I left her in Illinois."

"Whoa, easy!" Ayden grabbed for him as he dropped back down, one hand firm between his shoulderblades to keep her brother from swaying backward and giving himself a concussion against the salt-encrusted iron on top of everything else. "Cas zapped Sam and Bobby to pick her up and they're doing something else, too, so they won't be back for a couple of days, they said. Your baby's fine, dude, quit trying to knock yourself out."

Thankfully, Dean didn't hyperventilate at the thought of his baby all alone back in Illinois, assuming Meg had no interest in his car, only in him. He relaxed a little when she reassured him that Sam and Bobby had gone to retrieve his car, but that meant it was only Ellen and Ayden and Cas left behind to play babysitter to Dean. "I'm okay. A little hungry," he admitted, that being something of an understatement. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten and wasn't even sure how much time had passed since his little adventure in Lucifer's Green Room. He assumed no one knew about that yet, or about Crowley's assistance in getting him out. It was likely all they knew was what Cas had told them, and how much Cas knew, Dean wasn't sure.

Drawing her hands back into her lap, Ayden shrugged a little, glancing toward the door. "I can go get something, if you want," she suggested. "Or Cas might, if you promise to stay put. Ellen's asleep on the couch upstairs, so I wouldn't have to ask her permission or anything."

Ayden · Date: 2012-09-15 08:33 EST

Dean frowned at the reminder that he was on lockdown, assuming it was Cas' idea to stick him in here in hopes that it would stop him from saying yes to Michael. It was preposterous, really. Michael was one of the most powerful beings in existence. If Dean decided to call him, he doubted a few sigils would keep him away. "Screw Cas. Does it look like I'm going anywhere?" His mood darkened a little at the mention of Cas, his thoughts turning to the argument and the beatdown he'd received at the angel's hands.

"It wasn't his idea to put you in here, you know," Ayden mentioned mildly, packing up the little first aid kit once again. Her gaze flickered to Dean's darkening expression, teeth finding her lip as she rose from where she knelt beside him. "You really scared Ellen. She was pissed."

His face didn't look nearly as bad once the dried blood had been cleaned up. He had a few cuts and scrapes and bruises, but nothing that wouldn't heal given time. "Yeah, well, I would have made it back in time, but I got sidetracked." That was putting it mildly, but Dean didn't want to scare her further by getting into details about it. It didn't really surprise him all that much that Ellen had been the one to put him in lockdown, but he took it a lot better coming from her than he would have from anyone else. He knew if Ellen was scared and pissed, it was only because she cared about him. His expression softened a little at that thought. "Tell her I'm sorry."

She paused, closing up the cupboard once again before tucking her hands into her pockets, half-turning to look over at him. "I think she knows," the young woman offered with a one-shouldered shrug. "She's the one who caught me up with everything. Said if she had to be scared and grumpy, I might as well join her." Ayden actually laughed a little at this comment, rolling her eyes at herself. "I swear, I thought she was going to run Sam down when we got back without you."

"She told you....everything?" he asked, both brows rising, not sure how he felt about that. Ellen had been the one who'd told him to keep everything to himself so as not to scare or shock her. He wondered just how much she'd told Ayden. Had she told her about Hell" She must have told her about the looming Apocalypse and about his and Sam's part in it. If Ayden blamed him for her mother's death or for being dragged into things, she wasn't saying so. He glanced off into space again as he thought things over. "I suppose I should have called or something." How did you call home when you were stuck in Hell's green room, he wondered.

"Well, I don't know if she told me everything," Ayden pointed out, wrapping her arms around herself in an awkward hug, reassuring herself with the need for something tactile to comfort her rather than force another close encounter on her brother when he was so much at sea. "I think I'm up to speed on what?s going on, as much as I can be. She said I should know why I've got angels and demons trying to make me pick a side."

He looked back at her, that grim expression back on his face now that the conversation had circled back around to the problem at hand. "They're all dicks. You choose the side of humanity," he told her, hoping to hell he was making the right choice. He wasn't choosing angels over demons; other than for Cas, he detested them both. Michael was simply a means to an end, nothing more. Ironically, he knew Michael probably thought of him the same way. "Cas is the only angel I've ever..." He paused a moment, the conflict between them obviously painful. "I've ever trusted." Even though they'd come to an agreement, he trusted Gabriel about as far as he could throw him.

"Yeah, well, I've got both sides giving me nightmares now, so I think I'm gonna stick with choosing my side and to hell with them." She shrugged again, her lips quirked into a lopsided smile. "Uh ....can I ask you something" It's nothing personal," she hurried to add. "More kinda a matter of style."

He furrowed his brows when she mentioned nightmares. He could relate a little too well to those, though he'd finally stopped waking up in the middle of the night screaming. He didn't want that for her; he didn't want that for anyone. "Ask away. Until Ellen decides I've been in Time Out long enough, I've got nothing better to do." He pushed himself off the cot, steadying himself against the wall for a moment until the room stopped spinning.

Yet another shrug made itself known, even as her arms unwound from about herself, reaching out to steady him as he swayed. She never made contact, though, hesitating just enough to draw her hands back again before he could object to a little girl like her trying to help him. "I was just wondering if maybe I crossed a line telling the Devil to go to Hell."

He arched a brow down at her, a little surprised at her admission. She was young, innocent, but maybe she had more gumption that he'd originally given her credit for. She was a Winchester after all. "You told the Devil to go to Hell" How'd he take it?"

Ayden's expression twisted from uncertain guilt to stark fear. It was just a flash, a brief declaration of just how disturbed her sleep tonight had been, of just what had urged her down here, to this chilly metal can, in the middle of the night. She didn't even meet Dean's eyes, mumbling her truthful answer in a tiny voice. "Said I was going with him."

Dean narrowed his eyes at her reply - or rather, at Lucifer's given to him through Ayden. Green eyes flashed with a hint of rage, jaw clenching. "The hell you are. Over my dead..." He broke off, realizing that turn of phrase might go over very well right now, as it was too close to the truth. "You're not going to Hell, Ayden. You just keep telling that son of a bitch no, and if he's got a problem with that, tell him to take it up with me."

There was a dangerous moment when she wobbled on the edge of telling Dean just how Lucifer had gotten into her dreams in the first place, but Ayden just didn't think she was brave enough to dare her big brother completely breaking down with fury if he knew the whole truth. She swallowed, shaking her head. "Didn't get a chance," she admitted. "That was when I woke up." One hand rose to brush her hair out of her face as she turned toward the door, raising her voice. "Hey, Cas" Can we come out now, both of us?"

"Ayden..." As much as Dean wanted to be let loose, he ignored the fact that she was calling for Cas, pushing off the wall as the dizziness passed and standing on his own two feet. "He's not gonna take you to Hell. I'm not gonna let that happen. I promise." Just like you promised Andrea and Lucas, and look what happened to them, his inner voice prodded.

She stilled, one hand on the door as she turned to look back at her brother. "I don't know anymore, Dean," she admitted with reluctant clarity. "I keep sayin' no to angels, I'm not getting into Heaven, am I" The only way for me to go is down. Might as well earn what?s coming, right?"

Ayden · Date: 2012-09-15 08:37 EST

"Ayden, listen to me..." He started after her, needing her to understand something before the moment passed forever. He pressed a hand against the door, as if to keep her there a moment longer. It was important she understood you didn't just go to Hell. There was more to it than that. He'd already asked Gabriel to keep an eye on her, to keep her safe, though he wasn't quite sure how far Gabriel was willing to go if it came down to a conflict with Lucifer. Would he be willing to go out on a limb for a mere human' "You're not going to Hell. You don't just go to Hell. Are you gonna believe that lying son of a bitch or me?"

She looked up at her big brother, feeling very small and very stupid in the face of what was obviously superior knowledge that cut far deeper than just a firm belief. But it was one thing to have believed in God and angels and demons all her life; it was quite another to be smack-bang in the middle of the Apocalypse as it geared up toward the Final Reckoning. Monsters, she could cope with; this ....she wasn't so sure. "I thought it was supposed to be all about faith?"

"You believe in yourself and your family. That's the only faith that matters." Dean dropped his hand from the door, unsure whether Cas was going to let him out or not. It didn't really matter. They couldn't keep him here forever. He looked at her for a long moment, as if trying to tell her something with his eyes, or contemplating giving her a hug, but he wasn't really very good at that sort of thing, or so he thought. If she needed a hug, Sam could give her that. If it was practical information she needed, Dean was her man. After a moment, he forced himself to smile, hoping to lighten her mood a little. "What's with the bunny slippers" I didn't even know they still made those."

Whether he knew it or not, he was saying and doing all the right things to make his little sister feel better. Sam was probably going to be tackled when he and Bobby got back, but that first day with Dean had taught Ayden that he wasn't really all that comfortable with open affection. She wasn't going to force another hug on him unless he gave her no choice. His little tease made her blush, looking down at the slippers she'd had since she was twelve, battered and dog-eared and obviously much-loved. "Shut up," she grumbled good-naturedly, rolling her eyes. "I love my bunny slippers."

"They look like they've seen better days," he remarked with a small smile that hinted at the growing affection he was feeling toward her. She was his little sister, after all. He took a step backwards, not wanting to make any trouble for her. Ellen would let him out soon enough. The smile slowly faded as another thought came to mind. "If you want to stay close....If you'd feel safer....I'm okay with that."

"That obvious, huh?" Brushing her hair back out of her face again, Ayden glanced to the door. "I guess I should have brought food down with me. I didn't really think you'd be awake yet." She hesitated, finally lifting her eyes to meet his, green on green, with the kind of intensity Winchesters only reserved for family. "I mean it, you know," she told him earnestly. "I don't feel safe unless you're around."

That admission brought a small frown to his face as his eyes met her with equal intensity and a hint of sadness, knowing he wasn't going to be around forever. "If you're willing to learn, I can teach you how to keep yourself safe."

"You gonna turn me into a mini-Chuck Norris?" she asked, both brows raised in gentle challenge. "Only, you know, prettier. And with boobs by nature, not by weird workout." It was easier to make a joke than to admit that she needed all the help she could get.

He rolled his eyes at the mention of boobs. "You had to point that out, didn't you? You're my sister. I don't think I'm supposed to notice that stuff. And you're a lot prettier than Chuck Norris," he added with a genuine smile, the mood lightening a little again, despite the reason behind the need for the conversation. "Now, if you don't mind, Chuck ....I haven't eaten in a couple of days, and I'm starving." A few days or not, when was Dean not starving"

"Aw, c'mon, the boys in this family got all the pretty," Ayden chuckled teasingly, turning back to the door to wrench the lock open. She set her shoulder to it, pushing hard to get it even a little open. "Cas, don't get weird, we're coming out," she called through the little gap, eyes turning back to Dean. "Starving or not, how 'bout you put those muscles to use and stop me showing off what a weed I am?"

Dean arched a brow again, more than a little surprised that she was going to bat for him against Ellen's and probably Cas' wishes and letting him out. "You sure" I don't wanna get you into any trouble with Ellen."

"Screw that, she likes me too much to hurt me permanently," was Ayden's sassy response, reminding herself of how badly prepared their father had been the first time he'd encountered her newfound confidence after the ghoul attack. Her grin widened as she waited to discover how Dean was going to cope with having a mouthy sister. "So ....you just gonna stand there with your mouth open, or are we breaking out together?"

Dean smiled. "I'm all for breaking out of jail." The truth was Ellen loved him too much to hurt him either, and he knew she'd only put him into lockdown because he'd scared the crap out of her. He'd been scared, too, but he'd never admit it. He came up beside her, putting his back into it to help her push the heavy door open. "I'm coming out, Cas!" he warned the angel. He wasn't going down again without a fight, but he had a feeling the angel wouldn't dare touch him in front of Ayden.

With Dean's strength doing most of the work, it wasn't really any surprise that Ayden utterly failed to keep up with the movement of the door. She tripped over her own slippers as her lean against the door over-balanced her, and dropped like a stone ending up in a sprawl on the floor outside the panic room, laughing like a drain. Rolling onto her back, she grinned up at Castiel, still giggling, and saluted from her recumbent position. "Permission to come aboard, captain?"

"I'm sorry. My rank is not captain," the trenchcoat-wearing angel said, staring dumbfounded down at Ayden, arms folded across his chest. He glanced to Dean, looking slightly apologetic for the beatdown he'd given him. "Ellen will be angry if I let you out."

"No, she won't. Trust me," Dean said, patting a hand against Castiel's shoulder, hardly realizing the irony in his statement, asking the angel who'd put him in lockdown to trust him. He just wanted all of them to trust him, for once. He bent down to offer his sister a hand and pull her to her feet. "I'm fine. I'm not going anywhere. Stop worrying."

Despite the giggling, Ayden let Dean heave her up onto her feet once again by the hand wrapped tight in his. She nodded to Dean, turning to gently pat Cas on the cheek. "I take full responsibility," she suggested to the angel confidently. "Seriously, if he runs for it, you can beat me up until you feel better." Which was about as anachronistic as you could get for an angel, but never mind. It sounded good inside Ayden's head.

Ayden · Date: 2012-09-15 08:42 EST

"Why would I want to beat you up?" Castiel asked, as Ayden patted his cheek, not really understanding why humans always felt they should pet him, as though he was a puppy dog. He was an Angel of the Lord, albeit a rebel, not a family pet. "I will not take the blame for this," he said, looking between the pair. "If you do not need me further, I am needed elsewhere."

Dean opened his mouth to reply, but before he could say a thing, Cas had disappeared into thin air, the way angels were wont to do. "Thanks for everything, Cas!" he called, sarcastically. He wondered what Ellen would think when and if she found out it had been Crowley who'd saved his a$$, not Cas. He frowned at Ayden. "You go first. She might throw something at me."

Ayden, for her part, was still looking at the space where Castiel had been a moment before. She blinked, realising Dean had spoken to her, and pointed to the empty space. "Does he do that a lot?" she asked curiously, shuffling forward toward the stairs that would take them up and into the more habitable parts of the house. "Don't worry about Ellen, she was asleep when I came down."

Dean shrugged. "You get used to it." He started up the stairs after Ayden, boots shuffling against the steps. "What time is it?" he asked, still disoriented, completely having lost track of time. "How long was I gone?" He figured it couldn't have been more than a few days or so, but he couldn't be sure.

"Nearly a week," she told him, lifting the hems of her PJ pants so she only had to worry about falling over her bunnies on the less than entirely safe stairway. "Ellen didn't start getting really twitchy until the fourth day and you weren't answering any calls. And even then, it took Sam another day to say you were probably in Wisconsin." She glanced at the watch encircling her wrist. "It's nearly twenty to four. In the morning."

He winced, realizing it had to be the middle of the night since she'd come down looking for him after having a bad dream. Nearly a week" That was longer than he'd thought. No wonder he was starving. It seemed time moved differently in Lucifer's Green Room, just as it did in Hell. "You should go back to bed. I promise I'm not going anywhere."

She shook her head as they came out into the main hallway of the house, accustomed enough to the light and shadow and layout of the Singer residence by now to be able to make her way toward the kitchen with as much confidence as though she had been living there for years. "I'm not going back to sleep tonight," she predicted quietly. "Maybe when the sun comes up, but not in the dark."

He ducked his head as he came out of the stairway into the hallway, pausing a moment to let his eyes adjust once again to the change in light. "I'm not either. You're welcome to keep me company, if you want." He'd spent enough idle time the last few days, first stuck in Lucifer's Room of Holding, then in the panic room. He felt antsy to be doing something, even if it was only cleaning his weapons or researching a spell. The first order of business was food, then a shower and change of clothes, and then there was something he wanted to look into.

"I kinda figured I was gonna stick to you like glue until either the sun comes up, or you tie me down somewhere," Ayden shrugged, not exactly embarrassed to admit this level of dependency on him, despite not knowing him all that well. She paused by the sliding doors into the main room, cracking them open just a little to make sure Ellen was still sleeping peacefully. "Okay, so ....food."

He glanced over at the main room where Ellen was sleeping on the couch and frowned a little, knowing she'd probably been worried sick about him. "She sleep at all while I was gone?" he asked, as he peeked past her at the sleeping form of his surrogate mother.

"Little bit," Ayden whispered back, wary of disturbing the sleeping woman. "I think Bobby dosed her with her painkillers a coupla times to get her to close her eyes, but she didn't really relax until Cas brought you back." She tipped her head back to look up at her brother. "Does everyone in this house live on caffeine and adrenaline?"

"Would you rather we lived on booze and anti-depressants?" he asked, no humor in his tone of voice at all. "Speaking of booze, I'm gonna have a beer. You want one?" It was still dark out, not quite time for breakfast yet, and he needed something to calm his jangled nerves.

One step forward, two steps back. Ayden ducked her head at Dean's reply; she hadn't meant to make light of their lives, and in the wake of the last time she'd let her tongue go wild with her eldest brother, she didn't want to nudge him into walking away or giving her the silent treatment again. "No, I'm all right, thanks," she said quietly, careful not to let the sliding doors bump one another as she closed them up once again.

He pulled open the fridge and snagged a beer. It didn't matter what brand. He wasn't drinking it for the flavor. At least, he wasn't going into Bobby's secret supply of Hunter's Helper. Ellen wasn't too keen on the drinking, but Dean figured after everything that had happened over the last few days, she wasn't going to badger him about a few beers. He twisted off the cap and tossed it in the trash before tipping the bottle back for a long swallow. It felt like heaven going down. He was thirstier than he'd thought.

Turning away from the now closed doors, Ayden watched him drink for a moment before looking away once more. Her attention was caught by an open book laid atop a sprawling pile of tomes and parchment scrolls. The open page showed a woodcut of an angel smiting the devil, both armed with identical blades. Her fingers touched the page thoughtfully, half-wishing she could read the language it was written in. Half-wishing she hadn't looked at the book in the first place.

He took another swallow, watching her as she looked at the open book. Assuming it wasn't a cookbook, he stepped closer to peer over her shoulder at whatever it was she was looking at, frowning a little at the picture on the page and the words accompanying it in Latin. "Not the kind of thing that makes for light reading, is it?" His eyes lingered on the page a moment longer, feeling Fate like a heavy weight upon his shoulders. "According to Gabriel, it was all decided long before we were born."

"Kinda glad none of it makes any sense to me," she agreed with a slow nod. The name he'd dropped took a moment to sink in, urging her to turn about and blink up at him, not entirely sure she was taking that in stride. "Uh, Gabriel" As in ....Blow, Gabriel, Blow Immaculate Conception Gabriel?"

He took another swig of his beer, draining it, before answering. "One and the same," he answered briefly, unsure how much he should tell her. He didn't want any more secrets or lies between them, but he wasn't sure he wanted her to know that he'd mentioned her to Gabriel. "He's okay for an angel, once you get past his sarcasm." He set the empty beer bottle in the sink and opened the fridge again, this time to find a loaf of bread and sandwich fixings.

Ayden · Date: 2012-09-15 08:45 EST

"Isn't he, like, the messenger angel?" she asked curiously. "He's supposed to be the one who tells us mere mortals what?s up in Heaven, right' So why's that dillweed Zachariah throwing his weight around like he owns the place" He's not even an archangel."

"Zachariah is sort of Michael's gopher. His job is to get me to say yes, only his bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired. He hasn't learned that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. He doesn't give a sh*t about you or me or anyone else. He only cares about getting results." Dean pulled out two slices of bread and started piling on all kinds of sandwich fixes.

"I still want to watch you gut him, you know," Ayden said amicably, finally moving away from the table piled high with books to sit herself down at the other table, the one Ellen insisted was for eating only, no books allowed. "Could be a deal breaker. I thought I was supposed to be feeding you?"

"It's okay. I'm not a..." He broke off, not wanting to mention the word "cripple" in Ellen's house. If Gabriel lived up to his word, she wouldn't be a cripple much longer. Ayden would be safe. The world wouldn't burn. Everything would be hunky dory again. He just would likely not be here to see it. "You ever notice how the artists always like to depict Michael triumphing over Lucifer" Good over evil."

He created a pile of various lunch meats and cheeses on one slice of bread, then spread the remaining slice with a generous amount of mayonnaise before slapping the whole thing together, licking a bit of mayo from a finger.

"Dick over a$$hole," his little sister corrected, shaking her head. "There's nothing good or evil about this, it's just two spoiled toddlers fighting over a toy." And the Earth had about the same life expectancy as the average toy in the hands of two irate under-fives. "Maybe we don't need God. Maybe someone should wake Mary up and tell her to get her butt down here for a little parental discipline."

"Mary?" Dean echoed. "Mary isn't the mother of the angels. Don't believe everything you read, Ayden. I'm guessing most of the heroes in The Bible got screwed over the same way we are. Some angel comes down from Heaven, tells them they're something special. Next thing you know, their life is turned upside down. You want one?" he asked, as he put the finishing touches on his sandwich, which was really like three sandwiches in one.

She pulled a face. "I really don't wanna think about what Gabriel had to do to her, then," she muttered, rolling her eyes. "Hey, is it true they're about as anatomically correct as a Ken doll?" She had no idea why she was asking such a ridiculously trivial question that ultimately had no bearing on the situation at large. It was just interesting, that was all. She glanced at the sandwich, unable to help the little smile that touched her face. "No, you knock yourself out. Need a jack to get your mouth open far enough?"

He cracked a smile at her question, which he took as a personal challenge. "I think I can manage." He returned the sandwich fixings to the fridge and snagged himself a second beer, the first one quenching his thirst, but not doing much else. "Angels are....what?s the word" Genderless" They're not male or female. They don't procreate. They don't even have a soul really. Not the way you and I do. Demons don't need permission to possess a human, but for some reason, angels do." He turned back around and twisted the cap off the second bottle of beer as he took a seat at the table for her first lesson in hunting.

"I guess God wanted them to always ask nicely before they violate someone at a level no psychotherapy can possibly fix." She leaned forward onto her elbows, ignoring the urge to shiver in the vague chill of the night. She had a feeling this conversation wasn't purely about passing the time. "Demons are real?" she asked very quietly.

"Very real. A demon killed my mom. That's how this whole thing started for me." He talked about it like it was simple fact, and though it had happened years ago, in some ways, it felt like just yesterday. He reached toward her, hestitating a moment with his hand outstretched toward the amulets that hung at her neck. "May I?"

He said it so calmly, with such natural aplomb, that it didn't register with Ayden what it was he had actually said. If there'd been any kind of drama to the way Dean had passed on that little bit of information - that crucial moment in time that John had insisted she didn't need to know about - she might have reacted, but as it was, Dean distracted her from thinking about it with his gesture toward the necklace she wore. "Uh, yeah, sure," she nodded, reaching behind her neck to unclasp the fastening.

"Don't take it off," he told her as she reached for the clasp. "It's the Seal of Solomon. Protection against demonic possession." He withdrew his hand, hesitating a moment, before tugging at the neck of his t-shirt to show her the almost matching symbol that had been tattooed on his chest.

Her fingers left the clasp the moment he told her not to undo it, obedient to the wisdom of an older, far more experienced sibling. She touched the pair of amulets that rested in the hollow of her throat. "Dad gave me this," she said softly. "Made me promise to never take it off, just in case something went wrong on his big hunt that meant he wouldn't be back for my sixteenth. Was he talking about in case he got possessed and a demon found out about me and Mom?"

He pulled his t-shirt back up, frowning as he remembered the sacrifice his father had made for him, the same one he'd made for Sam. "Yeah," he said soberly, averting his gaze to his bottle of beer, picking idly at the label. His father's worst fears had come to pass, but at least Ayden was safe. "I figured he gave it to you. Bobby gave me and Sam a couple once."

She mused on this for a moment or two, her mind once again turning to the mystery surrounding John's death. No one had told her what had happened, and she didn't expect anyone to. She thought that, perhaps, it was too dark a place to ask anyone to go back to simply to satisfy her curiosity. Her fingers lowered to the table, drumming idly against the worn wood. "What do I need to know?"

He lifted his gaze, pulled out of his thoughts of his father's death, arching a curious brow at her. "It's not something I can teach you in a day." He nodded his head toward the amulet at her neck. "That'll protect you from possession. Salt can be used as a barrier. Holy water burns them. The rest will take time."

"But you're gonna teach me, right?" Green eyes found the green that was his gaze, solemn and oddly hopeful. She didn't want to have to ask Bobby or Ellen to teach her these things. It was something her brothers should do for her, either and both of them, in any spare minutes they had before they put whatever plan they had into action. "I can't not know about it now, can I?"

Ayden · Date: 2012-09-15 08:48 EST

He didn't have to consider his answer. Someone had to teach her, and as the eldest brother, he felt it was up to him. It was the least he could do, and maybe it would somehow make up for not teaching Andrea enough. He'd tried to protect Andrea and Lucas and keep them from this life, but in doing so, he'd made the same mistakes his father had with Kate and Ayden, leaving them open and vulnerable to his enemies. "I'll teach you," he promised, his gaze meeting hers in solemnity and determination.

She held his gaze for a long moment, taking the unspoken promise to heart, trusting him to keep it if he could. But the moment was just too heavy to be allowed to last, too serious in the light of the weighty problems already leaning hard on his shoulders. "After you fix my baby, right?"

His fondness for cars - especially classic old models - lifted his mood, and a small playful smirk appeared on his face. "No, after we fix your baby. I'm not doing it alone." He reached for his mountain of a sandwich, both hands going around it and squishing it down until it was able to fit into his mouth.

Beaming, more than satisfied with his answer, Ayden leaned back, watching with ever increasing incredulity as somehow he managed to fit his mouth around the enormous sandwich. "You're such a boy."

He chuckled around the sandwich, saying something that was completely muffled and unrecognizable, groaning in pleasure at the sheer enjoyment of eating, one of his favorite pasttimes. The other, of course, was sex. And the list went on.

Ayden's mouth curved into a laughing smile. "You want me to leave you two alone for some quality time together?" she offered, gesturing to the sandwich, looking away with a faintly embarrassed grimace. "I feel like I just walked in on you screwing, not eating."

Biting off a hunk of sandwich, it took him a minute to chew and swallow. "Oh my god, that's good!" he exclaimed, as if it was the most delicious thing he'd ever eaten. He smirked at her remark, trying not to let his thoughts wander to the last woman he'd been with.

"Stop it!" Faced with her brother appreciating a sandwich pretty much the same way her friends described boys appreciating them, Ayden had turned bright red and dissolved into giggles, drawing her hands up to muffle the sound in her sleeves. "This is so wrong."

He laughed as she giggled, and he was suddenly reminded how young she was. Too young to be mixed up in all this, but it was too late to worry about that now. "So..." he started, snagging his beer to wash down that bit of sandwich. "You have a boyfriend" Anyone special?"

She shook her head, relaxing more despite the personal turn of the conversation. "No," she told him, though by her tone it was hardly considered a hardship that she couldn't give him a resounding yes to this question. "I don't have time, and, well ....have you seen guys my age?" Just the look on her face was enough to point out that teenaged boys were the same the world over, no matter what their upbringing.

He had to smirk a little again, though the thought of boys her age made him think of Lucas, who had been a few years younger and had just been starting to get interested in girls. It had only been a few nights ago that Dean had been giving him advice, and now he was gone. "Yeah, well, I was a boy that age once. What are you, seventeen, eighteen?"

"Nineteen," she told him with a nod. "But I'm sophomore at college, I skipped a grade a few years back." She'd skipped second grade, actually, but she didn't think showing off was a good idea. "I'm the weird geeky little one who sits in the back and never talks to anyone," she expounded, wondering why she was telling him this. She'd never made a fuss of her conscious decision not to make friends before now; so why was she sharing this with Dean"

"Brainy like Sam," he remarked, more to himself than to her. He'd known from a young age that he'd never be like that, that he'd never go to college, never have a career. It had never really bothered him much. He'd accepted it a long time ago. "I was the one that was always getting sent to the principal's office. I quit when I was seventeen. There didn't seem to be much point anymore."

If it hadn't been for Sam, he'd probably have quit sooner, but John had insisted he keep going to keep an eye on his brother. He'd finally rebelled and told John it was a waste of his time. There was nothing they could teach him in school that would help him learn to hunt.

"You got something more valuable than book smarts for what you do," Ayden pointed out. "I always wanted to be a doctor, so I kinda got into the habit of studying. Mom was always working anyway, so there wasn't much else I could do." She snorted with laughter, pushing aside the urge to grieve in favor of laughing at herself. "You know, I figured I'd become a doctor because they get paid better and I wouldn't have to work as much as Mom did. But after all this ....How many hunters do their own mending and get themselves real badly ill because they don't have doctors they can trust?"

"I think we've all been there one time or another." He could think of a few times he'd patched himself up or been patched up in less than sterile conditions. "Hospitals ask too many questions." He took up the sandwich again, almost as if to avoid talking about her mother. They were both grieving, but for different people, and it seemed they were carefully dancing around that issue so as not to cause the other pain. "So, a doctor, huh' Any specialty?"

"Don't laugh," she told him, her expression already half-smiling. She knew how ridiculous it sounded in her head; she could only imagine how Dean was going to react to his sweet, pretty little sister sharing this rather gruesome career decision with him. "Emergency surgery and critical medicine. Like in the ER. All blood and guts and bones, and making it better right when it needs to be."

Somehow, he had a feeling she was going to say that. If she wanted to help hunters, that was the logical route to go. "Why would I laugh?" he asked, arching both brows curiously, a perfectly serious expression on his face. "I think it's admirable."

"Because everyone laughs," she snorted with laughter, rolling her eyes as she shook her head. "Apparently I look like I'd snap if I tried to relocate a joint. But, you know, the last person who said that is a dick anyway. He's a bully, and I'm an easy target." She shrugged lightly.

Half the sandwich had somehow managed to disappear while he listened to her talk, famished as he was. He set the beer down that he'd just taken another swig from. "Lesson number one?" he said, pointing a finger at her. "Never judge a book by its cover. Who's the bully and do I need to beat the crap out of him?"

Ayden · Date: 2012-09-15 08:52 EST

She giggled again, tucking her hair back behind her ears as she leaned forward comfortably. "No offense, but I don't think having my big brother come on campus to defend me is gonna do much for my street cred, you know?" she grinned, but her expression turned teasingly thoughtful. "Although ....it would be awesome to see him crap his pants in front of his little gang. I swear, it's like he's collecting a harem of complete idiots. They have more boobs than braincells."

"Nothing wrong with boobs," he found himself saying, furrowing his brows as he realized he was talking to his sister, suddenly feeling a little awkward. "I mean..." He sighed. "Never mind." He smirked as a thought came to mind involving a harem of college hotties and him.

It didn't take a genius to work out where Dean's brain had gone. Ayden laughed, nodding in a knowing fashion. "Like I said," she chuckled, "you're such a boy." She clicked her fingers in front of his nose playfully. "Earth to Dean' Trust me, you don't want anything to do with those college girls."

His smirk as faded as his thoughts turned once again to Andrea. Their relationship had been an open one, never having made any promises to each other, though over the course of the last few years, they'd grown closer, until it had just seemed to go without saying that they belonged to each other. "No," he agreed. He really didn't want any college girls. If he couldn't have Andrea, he didn't want anyone. He'd promised he'd join her soon, and in his heart, he knew it was true. "No, I don't. I just thought it would be funny to see the look on the guy's face when his harem chased after me." And in his modesty, he had no doubt they would do just that.

Perhaps it was his sudden shift in mood, or perhaps not, but Ayden's mind had also wandered, away from what she liked best about her life toward what she hated about it. She leaned back in her seat, drawing her knees up to her chest and looping her arms tight around her legs. "You know, I thought I'd feel worse about being away from college so long," she admitted softly. "But I really don't miss anything about it apart from the studying. I'm kind of a loner, I don't really have friends. You put one bully down and two more pop up, so I don't bother anymore. But I just have to get through another two years, and if I work hard enough, I can get a full ride somewhere far away from Wisconsin."

He finished off his sandwich and took another pull off his beer. "Like where?" he asked, leaning back in the chair and relaxing, now that the sandwich was gone. He knew Sam had gone to Stanford, but he really had no idea where she might like to go.

She shrugged again, resting her chin on her knees as she studied him. "I'm not arrogant enough to think I could get into Harvard or Yale," she admitted, shaking her head. "And living costs in Boston and New Haven are way above my pay grade, but I was thinking maybe I could get into UC San Francisco, or Columbia in New York. They're good schools, they're kinda in the top fifteen for medical sciences, but I'd really need to impress them and that means keeping my grades astronomical for the next two years and hoping like hell I can afford to stay at Madison that long."

The conversation reminded him of one he'd had with Sam years ago when he was considering Stanford. John hadn't wanted him to go, and Dean was on the fence, both wanting his brother to pursue his dream and not wanting him to leave. In the end, Sam had left without consulting either John or Dean, and that had stung. With Ayden though, Dean wanted her to pursue her goals; he wanted her to have as normal a life as possible. He smiled fondly, the way big brothers do when they're encouraging little sisters. "I'm sure you could do anything you set your mind to. You're a Winchester."

She snorted with laughter, eyes twinkling with sleepy amusement. "You know, I think that's the first time anyone's said that as though it's a good thing," she laughed quietly, scrubbing a hand through her hair. "I don't think I'm gonna start calling myself Winchester, though. It's taken me long enough to get used to being AM radio; I don't think I want to deal with being called Aw."

"Course it's a good thing. If you weren't a Winchester, you wouldn't be sitting here having a heart to heart conversation with the most awesome big brother in the world, would you?" he teased back, green eyes dancing with mischief. "Be glad your last name doesn't start with an S."

She stuck her tongue out at him, snickering at his mischievous suggestion. "You think I should ask Sam who the most awesome big brother in the world is, or are you gonna prove it's you before he gets back?" she asked somewhat cheekily. It was easy to imagine in the quiet of the sleeping house that this was entirely normal, that there wasn't a whole world of innocent souls resting on the shoulders of the big brother she was teasing right now. And that was a sort of normal Ayden wanted to be able to share with Dean. She didn't think he got enough of it. "Has he always been so ....touchy-feely?"

Dean drained his beer before setting the empty bottle on the table, a smirk appearing on his face. "I'm pretty sure Sam would agree that it's me." After all, Dean had bargained his soul away to Hell to save his brother's life. What could be more awesome than that' "Sam?" Dean asked, arching a brow at her question. "Yeah, but..." His expression turned serious and he admitted something he'd never told anyone before, not even Ellen. "I'm not so sure that's a bad thing." He went back to thoughtfully picking at the beer label as he contemplated the question and his relationship with his younger brother.

"It's not that I mind," Ayden mused thoughtfully, watching his fingernails against the label on the bottle as they spoke. "I mean, it kinda weirded me out that he was prepared to hug me as soon as I showed up here. I didn't think three hours on the phone constituted a good enough relationship for that kind of family stuff, you know" Which is weird in itself," she added with a roll of her eyes. "Because I'm a hugger."

Dean knew he was emotionally distant and had been for years, or so he thought. He was the eldest, the one whose responsibility it was to hold everything together, even when it was falling apart. He couldn't afford to be like Sam, even if he secretly wanted to. "Nothing wrong with that," he said, picking at the label with a thumbnail. "You're a girl. You're allowed." He wasn't going to admit how much he enjoyed the rare hugs he was given, or how many times he'd been the one to initiate those hugs.

She smirked, flashing him a glimpse of the mischief that was remarkably similar to his own. "Does that mean I get to wear pigtails and sit on your lap if I want to?" she snickered, pretty much expecting this to be shot down with nothing short of panic. He'd already proved he didn't want to think about his little sister being in any way similar to any other woman or girl he'd so much as looked at in the past, after all.

He flicked a glance at her with a raised brow. "Um, no. You're a little too old to be sitting on my lap." Okay, so she'd made her point. She wasn't a girl; she was a woman, but he didn't really want to think of her that way. To him, she would always be his baby sister. He was just relieved he hadn't ever hit on her. That would have been weird. He pulled his hand away from the half-peeled off label and glanced at the window to gauge the time. "It's gonna be morning soon. You should get some rest."

Ayden · Date: 2012-09-15 08:55 EST

"Last time I tried that, I ended up with the Devil in my head," she reminded him quietly. "I think I'll pass for now. Unless you want me to go away' Because, you know, I can do that. I figure having someone like me around is weird for you, even without the sister thing hooking everything up."

He winced when she mentioned the nightmare again, his head turned to watch the night slowly fade from black to gray, wondering what Ellen would say when she woke to find him no longer on lockdown. He was quiet a moment, as he considered something and then he abruptly got to his feet. "Come here..." he said, almost reaching for her hand.

Those battered bunny slippers thumped onto the floor a split second before Ayden's feet took her weight, answering the gentle summons to action of some kind without a moment's consideration of just what Dean might have in mind. And where he hesitated, she didn't, one small hand tucking trustingly into his palm.

He didn't pull away from the hand that she so trustingly tucked into his, his fingers wrapping around her hand and tugging her toward the line of cupboards, several of which Ellen allowed Bobby to use to store various supplies for spells and summonings. At least, the ones that weren't so disgusting she didn't want them in her kitchen. "Your first lesson in spellwork," he explained as he let go of her hand and pulled open one of the cabinets to sort through the contents in search of what he needed.

Drawn over to the cupboards Ellen had told her never to open on pain of having all her toes broken in a freak hit and run with a wheelchair, Ayden looked up at Dean curiously. "So spells aren't evil?" she asked, needing this clarified for a moment. "I thought witchcraft was all about Satan and darkness and stuff."

"That's black magic. This is white magic. White magic counteracts black magic. White magic is usually used for healing and protection. That sort of thing." He pulled out a purple candle and several jars of what looked like various types of herbs. "Gonna need a piece of cloth. You don't happen to have a handkerchief, do you?" he asked, glancing her way.

She nodded slowly, taking this in and making sure she knew the distinction between white and black. Healing and protection, she thought with surprise. Like us. Doctor and hunter ....well, sort of. Asked for a handkerchief, she snorted with derisive laughter before catching herself. "Uh ....no, I don't. How big does it need to be?"

"Not big. Just a square of cloth. A washcloth will do in a pinch." He picked up a jar and held it up to examine the contents, setting it aside and continuing the search for what he was looking for, while she worked on finding a square of cloth. "Purple is good if you have it, but the color doesn't really matter."

Her laundry was on the other side of the doorway, waiting its turn in what had to have been a crowded utility room before Bobby cut a concealed trapdoor into the floor. Ellen had warned her not to lean on anything that looked vaguely lever-like, just in case. Ayden bent down, rummaging through the basket, knowing exactly what she was looking for. Her fingers found the familar fabric, pulling from the bottom of the basket one of her mother's scrub tops, a peaceful shade of blue. With it bunched in one hand, she moved back into the kitchen. "Is blue okay?" she asked, opening drawers in search of scissors.

He had a few jars containing various ingredients lined up on the counter and had managed to find needle and thread buried in a drawer somewhere. He rummaged in that same drawer for a pack of matches, turning to take a look at the shirt she was holding up. He looked it over a moment before going back to his rummaging. "Yeah, that should work."

"Good." Perhaps it was taking the idea of spellcraft a little too far, but Ayden liked the idea of her mom watching over her, whatever this was going to end up being. "How big does this need to be?" she asked Dean, finally locating a pair of scissors and setting them to the thin, soft cloth in her hands.

"Not too big. Small enough to fit under your pillow," he replied as he finally located a pack of matches and set about lighting the candle, careful not to blow out the flame once it was lit. "You know how to sew?" He assumed she did, but he wanted to make sure.

She snickered softly. "Depends what you're asking me to sew," was her answer. "I can fix a button or a seam, but I'm not exactly the world's neatest. Why?" Her eyes stayed fixed on the scissors as the blades sliced through the cloth, unsure whether she should be alarmed by how little she seemed to care that she was slicing up something that was so intrinsically tied up with her mother in her mind.

"I haven't made one of these in a long time," he explained as he unwound a length of string and bit it off with his teeth. It had never worked very well when it came to his own nightmares, but he hoped it worked better for her. He licked the end of the thread and squinted as he fed it through the eye of the needle. "You're going to sew while I chant," he explained, handing her the needle once it was threaded.

"How much of this am I sewing" All the way, or are you stuffing this with something halfway through or what?" The ruined top was tucked into her pocket, hanging down over her hip, as she took the needle and thread, her square of fabric dangling from her fingers. "Are you sure this is a spell" Seems a lot like art and crafts to me."

"Fold it over and sew it up on three sides, then I'll show you what to do next." He opened another cupboard and pulled out what looked like an ordinary bowl, but had never been used for food. One jar at a time, he measured out a small bit of herbs in his hand and sprinkled them into the bowl, creating an aroma of lavender and thyme, as well as a few other pleasant-smelling herbs that were a little less known and harder to recognize.

"Okay." Tying a clumsy knot in the end of the thread, simply because she had a bad habit of pulling it right the way through, Ayden folded over the cloth and began to sew, her gaze flickering to the bowl of dried herbs. As someone whose mind worked along scientific lines, being involved in something that was more of a placebo than anything was unusual, to say the least.

"It's a pretty easy spell. I've used it before to keep nightmares away, but I'm going to add a little something extra this time," he explained without really explaining. This wasn't going to just be a simple protection from nightmares spell, but something with a little extra kick to protect her from Lucifer poking into her head. "You'd be surprised how powerful this stuff can be. Stay away from black magic though. That stuff is bad news. No good comes from that."

Ayden · Date: 2012-09-15 08:58 EST

Just one little sentence, and Ayden was prepared to believe that this spell was going to work. She took the implication that when Dean had used this, it had worked, and that was most of the spell's work done. "How do I know what?s black and what?s not?" she asked him thoughtfully. "I mean, besides the obvious."

"You'll know. Black magic is usually used for selfish purposes. White magic causes no harm. We don't use this stuff too often, mostly for protection." He waited until she was finished with her sewing, watching as she stitched the small square of fabric up into a pillow, with one open end.

She didn't need to be told what to do when the sides of the little pouch were closed, turning it inside out and offering it to him. "Do you use spells a lot, then" I mean, it can't be all running in with a gun and hoping for the best, right?"

He chuckled humorlessly. "You'd be surprised how much of it is just that. A lot of it is dumb luck. Knowing how to kill this monster or that. It's not the way it is in the movies. I've never met a vampire yet who was afraid of a cross." Yes, Virginia, vampires were real. The same went for werewolves, ghosts, demons, hell hounds, witches, and a plethora of other supernatural creatures too lengthy to name.

"Well, that never makes sense in the movies anyway," Ayden commented mildly, tying off the thread. "Why would a vampire be afraid of the symbol of just one of the world's religions, when historically the legend of the vampire has been around far, far longer?" She was, after all, a Folklore major.

"The movies never get it right." Once she was done, he took the sewed up cloth from her and looked it over. Satisfied that her sewing job was sufficient, he arched both brows at her questioningly. "Ready?"

She blinked, eyeing him warily. "Ready for what?" was her ever-so-slightly suspicious query. "Are you gonna spin your head around and vomit split-pea soup or something?"

He snickered a moment. "Hell, no. Forgive the pun. Ready for the spell. You didn't think we just stuff it full of herbs and that's it, did you?"

"What, I'm doing this spell thing?" She stared at him, green eyes wide with vague alarm. "What if I get it wrong, won't that make something horrible happen?" Her mother had been a devout woman, and Ayden had attended Mass regularly for her sake. Evidently Christian superstition had rubbed off on her, despite her best efforts to remain un-indoctrinated.

"No," he said, chuckling again, amused at her reaction. "We're going to do it together. Don't worry. You get the easy part." He took hold of the square of fabric in his left hand, making sure the opening was wide enough that she could stuff it full of the right amount of herb mixture. "I'm going to recite a spell while you add the stuffing. Then you're going to finish sewing it up, and that's it." It sounded simple enough anyway.

"Okay. I can stuff, that's something I can do." She frowned thoughtfully, her mind turning onto the fascinating prospect of actually actively participating in casting a spell. "Am I putting all of that stuff in here, or how much of it, or what?"

"All of it," he answered, having already guessed at approximately how much they'd need and measured it out into the bowl.

She drew in a slow breath, visibly bracing herself for whatever was coming next. "Oookay, then," she nodded, reaching to pick up the bowl. "Whenever you're ready, Tabitha."

He smirked. "I'm ready when you are, Sabrina," he countered, quieting and waiting until she really was ready. The timing had to be right. He was ready to start the incantation whenever she was ready to start filling the bag full of herbs.

"All right, then." Biting her lip hard, Ayden dipped her fingers into the bowl, withdrawing a generous pinch of the herbs. She glanced briefly up at her brother before dropping them into the little cloth pouch, more to make sure her timing was right than for reassurance.

Dean nodded in approval, watching while Ayden stuffed the dream pillow full of the herb mixture, his lips moving as he quietly recited the words of a well-remembered spell in Latin. The incantation was a simple one, asking for fear to be replaced by peace, calm and love, and for nightmares to cease. He repeated the words several times as Ayden filled the pillow. The words themselves seemed peaceful, and air of tranquility settling over the pair as they worked the spell together. It was only when Dean added a few lines of his own, invoking the name of the angel Gabriel and calling on him to protect his sister in her sleep - all of it spoken in Latin - that the air turned heavy. The flame of the candle visibly flickered as if an invisible breeze came up from out of nowhere, and the windows of the house rattled a little.

Ayden was barely aware of any real change, concentrating fiercely on stuffing the herbs into the pouch, not wanting to spill any or do anything that might somehow ruin the spell Dean seemed to have worked hard on preparing. Thus, she missed the unique opportunity to see an archangel manifest on the other side of the window closest to them. Gabriel fixed Dean with a pointed stare, one brow raised, and lifted his hands into the air, as if to say, "Now what?"

Dean caught a glimpse of the angel at the window, narrowing his eyes at seeing him out there, he continued his chanting as he returned Gabriel's gaze. The words of the spell seemed to change suddenly as Dean invited the angel into the house, but only so long as he kept watch over Ayden, carefully forming his words so the angel understood exactly what he wanted from him. They had already made a bargain of sorts before Dean had arrived, and it seemed he was now calling in that bargaining chip, asking Gabriel to protect his sister until he could uphold his own part of the bargain.

Gabriel's expression spoke of world-weary concession as the invitation was extended. The archangel wasn't about to admit to having already been keeping an eye on the baby Winchester, though. Dean hadn't quite earned that information, though his request for this intervention was surprisingly polite. The archangel nodded and disappeared from view once again, offering just the barest glimpse of his presence standing just behind Ayden's left shoulder before he faded from view entirely.

And just in time, too - Ayden stiffened, somehow aware of the unseen presence, turning wide eyes to Dean. She didn't dare speak, not until he told her she could, but one thing was obviously going through her mind. If I look around, what am I going to see?

Ayden · Date: 2012-09-15 09:02 EST

There was a soft sound like the rustling of wings and the candle flame flared suddenly, flickering a moment before it just as suddenly blew out, just as Dean finished his chanting and Ayden finished stuffing the dream pillow full of herbs. Dean's gaze darted briefly to the angelic presence standing behind Ayden's left shoulder before that presence disappeared, and he returned his gaze to her face, smiling reassuringly and hoping Ellen had slept through it all. There was no telling what she'd do if she knew he'd invited yet another angel into their midst, though he suspected if she knew the reason, she might agree with the necessity of it. "It's done," he told his sister quietly, a mixture of relief and weariness on his bruised and battered face.

Now Dean was used to all sorts of strange goings on. Ayden, on the other hand, was not at all used to events of this sort happening, especially not candles that extinguished themselves in a breeze she couldn't feel, or the absolute certainty that there was someone suddenly standing behind her who couldn't possibly be there. Swallowing as her brother assured her of the end of the spell, she bit her lip again, not daring to move. "You're sure" There's nothing else that's going to happen?"

"Nope, that's it. You just have to sew it up and you should be all set." He turned away to return the jars of herbs to their place in the cupboard, wondering what Ellen would say if she awoke and found a half-burned out candle on the counter. She was bound to smell the evidence, even if she didn't see it. "You put that under your pillow at night, and it should keep the nightmares away."

"Oh. Good." Relieved as well as a little disappointed there had been no fireworks, Ayden retrieved the needle and thread, carefully folding the open edge of the little pouch over to begin sewing it securely closed. "It seems like such a tiny thing to do such a big job," she commented thoughtfully, twisting to lean back against the counter as she worked. "This is really going to keep Satan out of my head?"

Should he tell her the truth' That his simple little spell didn't stand a chance again a fallen archangel, or that he'd called in the big guns to play babysitter" Should he tell her so long as she believed in it, it would work" No more lies. "It's worth a try," he admitted, trying to sound as confident as possible. He wasn't even sure if Gabriel could keep Lucifer out of her head, but it wasn't really Ayden he wanted. It was Sam. "It's not you he wants, Ayden. It's Sam. He's just screwing with you to try and force Sam to say yes."

Strangely, it meant a lot to hear him say it like that, to admit to having his doubts rather than confidently insist that it was definitely going to work. "Every little helps, huh?" she shrugged with one shoulder, not wanting to linger on what exactly was going on. "So why's he doing it now, when Sam's not here for me to talk to about it' Seems kinda dumb to waste energy like that."

"I don't know," Dean replied as he turned on the faucet and rinsed out the bowl. "Maybe he thinks..." Dean broke off, realizing exactly what it was Lucifer was hoping for and more disturbingly, that his scheme was probably going to work. "It doesn't matter. He's the Devil. He doesn't care about you. He only cares about revenge."

Ayden couldn't follow his line of thought, and perhaps it was just as well. No one in the house wanted her to ever be able to make an educated guess about what it was the Devil wanted. Tying off the thread, she bit it clean and slipped the needle back into the box Dean had pulled it from in the first place. "Thanks for doing this, Dean," she said softly. "It means a lot to still have family around, you know?"

He set the bowl in the drain to dry, shut off the faucet, and dried his hands on a dishtowel before turning to face her. He shrugged his shoulders as if it wasn't a big deal and offered her a small smile, a hint of sadness or worry in his eyes. "Yeah, it does," he agreed. "Family isn't just blood, Ayden. Bobby and Ellen are family, too. I promise, you're safe here. I'm....uh..." He gestured toward the door, feeling suddenly awkward. "I'm gonna go watch the sunrise." 'Cause I'm not sure how many more I'm gonna get to see.

"No, I know that," she nodded hurriedly, not wanting it to sound as though she didn't appreciate everything that had been done for her over the past couple of weeks. "I just ....I feel safe, now you're back." Her eyes followed his gesture toward the door, a small, hopeful little smile touching her face. "Want some company?"

"Sure," his smile deepened, feeling a surge of warmth and affection for this girl who was his sister and whom he was just getting to know. "Long as you don't get all mushy on me," he teased, eyes shining playfully.

Her own smile widened, far more relaxed in his company now than she had been only hours before. "Well, you know, I'm a girl," she pointed out with drawling sarcasm. "I can't promise I won't see a pretty flower and start crying over it because, you know, that's what girls do." She snorted with laughter, poking at his stomach as she moved toward the back door. "C'mon, big bird, before you start drowning in your own testosterone."

He echoed her laughter, more at the moniker she'd chosen for him than anything else. "You are?" he teased back as he followed her toward the door. "I hadn't noticed. I thought you were my sister." He glanced back at the study where Ellen was supposed to be sleeping on the couch, wondering if she was listening. It didn't matter much either way. He wasn't going anywhere, at least not until Sam and Bobby got back. For now, she was stuck with him.

Dean stepped out onto the back porch into the golden glow of morning. A new day was dawning, another day of living. Dean drew an arm around Ayden as he turned his face toward the promise of a new day, each one a gift to be cherished. It was the closest she'd get to a hug from her big brother, who needed her love and affection more than she could ever know. Dean didn't know how many sunrises he had left, and he couldn't think of anyone he'd rather share it with than her.

((Look at that. You wait a week for the next installment, and it doesn't disappoint! :grin: Thanks, as ever, to Dean's player!))